Queen’s University is hosting a conference this weekend with a focus on improving connections within health care.

The annual conference for the National Health Sciences Students’ Association (NaHSSA) is being hosted at Queen’s on March 6-7, and includes the National Health Care Team Challenge, a friendly competition in which student teams from five universities across the country compete to demonstrate client-centred, collaborative teamwork.

Queen’s Health Interprofessionals Student Society (QHIP), which acts as a liaison between health sciences disciplines offered at Queen’s, is sponsoring the event.

The conference is a chance for students to network with and learn from other members of the health and helping professions and engage in presentations with the aim of “putting care back into health care,” organizers explain.

“It’s a unique opportunity for students because in our curriculum there is not much opportunity for students from different disciplines to come together and interact, says Jessica Pang, vice-president, finance, for QHIP. “We do have opportunities that have been put together for Queen’s students but we are not sure what other schools have for their programs. As well it is very exciting to have the different programs come here to one place because the programs Queen’s doesn’t have, such as speech-language pathology, respiratory therapists, pharmacy and paramedics, will be coming in and that will be a unique opportunity for us to interact and understand their goals.”

Keynote speakers for the conference are Françoise Mathieu, Director of Compassionate Care Solutions, who is a certified mental health counsellor and compassion fatigue specialist and Dr. Lesley Bainbridge, Associate Principal, College of Health Disciplines, University of British Columbia.

Kicking off the conference on Friday night is the National Health Care Team Challenge, with each of the five teams competing presenting their plan of care for the same virtual case study that is interprofessional, collaborative and client-centered. The event starts at 6 pm and is open to the public with an admission of $10.

The conference is also an opportunity to highlight what is happening at Queen’s.

“It’s nice because we get to showcase our faculties to the rest of Canada as we have schools from across the country coming to the conference,” says Brittney Green, conference director and the vice-president, external affairs for QHIP. “The main function of the conference is to bring students from different faculties and professions together. It is a networking opportunity as well as a time for people to work together.”

The Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice (OIPEP) at Queen’s is supporting the event.

“Our whole reason for being is to try and help students learn how to work with one another and collaborate effectively before they graduate, before they become health care providers,” says Anne O’Riordan, clinical educator at OIPEP and lecturer, School of Rehabilitation Therapy. “That’s a key part of the curriculum we offer and also to enable students to be client-centred and to understand what that means.”